3 Best Games of The Week – 39

With so many strong tournaments going on right now, it wasn’t easy to select this week’s best games. There are plenty of good games that have been played lately, but we decided to give our readers a treat and chose some sharp, entertaining ones.

We are going to start with a beautiful win of top Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the Turkish Super League. He chose a less popular line of the Grunfeld Defense and made everything look very easy by creating continuous threats against black’s exposed king. Black couldn’t find the best set-up and the game ended with a strong sacrifice that quickly decided the game. Take a look and try to find it yourself!

Game 1:

The next game was played in the strong Sinquefield Cup tournament between top Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Ding Liren. In the sharp Moscow variation of the Semi Slav Defense white managed to annihilate black’s threats on the kingside and counter-attack in the center. Black didn’t find the best defense and his position soon crumbled into pieces.

Game 2:

Last, we chose a quick win of the freshly crowned Spanish champion Francisco Vallejo Pons in the Spanish championship. Playing with the black pieces, he chose a less popular variation of the Sicilian Defense, counting on surprising his opponent. White wasted precious time and didn’t finish his development, which was promptly punished by black.

Game 3:

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